1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surgical traction device and more particularly pertains to apparatus for holding the fingers of a patient during surgery whereby traction forces are applied to the hand, wrist and forearm of the patient.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of surgical devices are known in the prior art. More specifically, surgical devices heretofore devised and utilized for the purposes of applying traction forces to a patient are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
As illustrated in the prior art, a wide variety of devices have been devised for supporting the patients forearm, wrist hand and fingers during surgery. Note for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,903 to Tari featuring a forearm support and hand support with flexible tensionable cables carrying finger-fixing thimbles.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,564,180 to Agee and 4,054,282 to Hamer disclose single tables for the arms of patients during an operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,864 to Young discloses an operating table for a hand of a patient with tie down mechanisms.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,746,332 to Hakstian discloses a device in the form of a work bench for encasing a wearers fingers, hand, wrist and forearm during surgery.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,291 to Carter discloses a surgical table for the forearm, wrist, hand and fingers wherein a plurality of fingers are held in traction but the traction is of a force common to the plural fingers and not the individual fingers.
In this respect, the device according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of applying individual forces to the fingers of a patient during orthopedic surgery.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for new and improved surgical devices which can be used for applying traction forces to the individual fingers. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.